S&P below 2K, Dow falls 300 points as growth concerns weigh

U.S. stocks plunged on Friday, extending a recent rout, as concerns about slowing global growth continued to pressure investor sentiment. (Tweet This)

“Right now there is a feeling of fear in the marketplace and all news is interpreted negatively and it’s interpreted indiscriminately,” said Tom Digenan, head of U.S. equities as UBS Global Asset Management.

The major averages accelerated selling in late morning trade to fall more than 1.5 percent. Earlier, the averages briefly attempted to halve losses in mid-morning trade.

“I think uncertainty about China (and) general negativity is weighing on the market. There’s a lack of positive economic news to motivate buyers,” said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds. He noted “there’s nothing particularly negative in the U.S. economic outlook.”

The Russell 2000 traded in correction territory. The S&P 500 fell through support levels to below 2,000, off more than 2.5 percent for the year so far. All 10 sectors of the index declined.

“It’s more of the same,” said Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group. “From a technical perspective we broke” 2,040 on the S&P 500, the lower end of the trading range.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 300 points. The Nasdaq Composite lost more than 2 percent, with Apple declining more than 3 percent and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) off about 2 percent.

“There’s a lot of systemic fear with growth slowing in China … but nobody really knows what the actual data is,” said John Caruso, senior market strategist at RJO Futures. “With China taking the drastic measure of actually devaluing their currency (last week) many people are believing things are much worse than they’re leading us on to believe.”

On the other hand, euro zone activity rose in August. The regional flash composite PMI from Markit rose to 54.1 from 53.9 in July. The U.S. flash manufacturing PMI came in at 52.9, slightly below expectations.

“I’d certainly be surprised if there’s not a bit of a bounce, because a lot of what we know is not new,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities.

Oil reversed Thursday’s late gains to trade lower, with crude oil off more than 2 percent to near $40 a barrel. Brent crude briefly fell below $46 a barrel.

Growth fears and uncertainty about the timing of a Federal Reserve rate hike weighed heavily on Thursday. U.S. stocks plunged more than 2 percent, with the major averages closing at session lows below their 200-day moving averages. The Dow fell 358 points to below 17,000 and the S&P 500 ended at 2,035, in the red for the year so far.

“The SPX broke down from a triangle pattern yesterday on a significant increase in downside volatility. The decline led to a breach of important support at the March low, which defines the lower boundary of a six-month trading range,” said Katie Stockton, chief technical strategist at BTIG.

“An important low appears likely next week from a technical standpoint, although the market may reel for another couple of days before finding its corrective low,” she said.